Hankyu Holdings Inc. launched its planned public tender offer Tuesday for shares of Hanshin Electric Railway Co., leaving industry watchers to speculate about how Hanshin's biggest shareholder, the Murakami fund, will respond.
As announced Monday, the holding company of Hankyu Corp., a Kansai area railway, is offering 930 yen per share for Hanshin stock, through June 19, in an attempt to take over rival Hanshin.
Hankyu aims to acquire more than 45 percent of Hanshin's outstanding shares through the tender offer. But sources said the Murakami fund, which holds about 47 percent of Hanshin shares, believes the offer is too low.